Strategic Partnerships Lead

For companies building financial technology and transforming the financial services space, the biggest bottleneck to their growth and innovation is often the underlying banks and infrastructure stack they rely on. We have spent our careers founding and scaling companies like Plaid, Square, Meta, Blend, and Affirm, and have seen this problem firsthand — builders and developers needing to partner with traditional banks, and creating API and abstraction layers over the patchwork that is the bank, its core, and many other vendors. All of this results in a complex (and often expensive) banking supply chain involving a user, fintech, BaaS middleware provider, bank, core and the Federal Reserve.

At Column, we set out to simplify and fix this. We are a bank and a software company built from the ground up, offering builders and developers technology-forward banking solutions that cut out the hundreds of vendors, middleware providers, and abstraction layers. This means a safer, more transparent, and less costly banking supply chain. Come build with us!

As a Strategic Partnerships Lead at Column, your mandate is to build relationships with and sell into strategic accounts. You’ll collaborate with leadership and Column's Business team to identify and close opportunities with companies that would benefit from building financial products with Column’s APIs - demonstrating Column’s value proposition and differentiation every step of the way. Success in this role looks like positioning yourself as a trusted advisor to current and future customers, building long-term relationships with prospects, and ultimately structuring and winning deals with our most important accounts. This role reports to the Head of Sales & Partnerships and is in our San Francisco HQ or eligible for remote, with travel to clients and prospects expected.

• Own a broad set high-potential accounts and territories, build account plans, and execute all aspects of the sales cycle.

• Drive deep discovery and navigate large and complex organizations to proactively overcome objections and potential blockers.

• Help develop the sales playbook and processes to build a world-class sales team at Column.

• Keep a strong pulse on the market and knowledge of Column’s product suite, enabling thought leadership with prospects on their Product and Compliance roadmaps.

• Navigate ambiguity to deliver solutions that address innovative customers’ use cases in partnership with our Solutions Engineering, Risk, and Compliance teams.

• Become an expert in financial services - build strong relationships, as a trusted advisor, with decision makers across the industry and within high-potential accounts.

• Thrive in a fast-paced, complex, technical environment; develop familiarity with Column’s API suite and how it can be applied to solve a multitude of real-world financial services painpoints.

• Effectively work cross-functionally to navigate discovery, scoping, negotiation, and deal close.

• Perform day-to-day activities consistent with safe and sound business practices and regulatory requirements.

• 8+ years in a strategic GTM or investing role - includes partnerships, strategic sales, private equity, venture capital, or corporate development. Early stage or small team experience is a plus. Track record of structuring and closing complex, multi-stakeholder deals that drive meaningful business outcomes.

• Product oriented: Experience selling a complex, technical product to enterprise buyers. Can be through direct selling, strategic partnerships, or other deal-related experience. Experience with financial services, embedded products, or deal-making in a regulated space is a plus.

• Moves quickly: Proven success navigating ambiguous environments and establishing structured deal cycles in a fast-paced organization.

• Structured execution: Ability to plan, generate, and manage pipeline and execute a structured sales process autonomously.

• Expertise: Demonstrated expertise in your space. Prospects regularly look to you for your perspective and guidance.

• Coachability: Insatiable hunger for improvement. You’re a naturally curious person, eager and quick to learn new things, and solicit feedback often.

• 🏥 Comprehensive health, dental, and vision plans, including options that are 100% covered by Column for you and 100% covered for your dependents!

• 🐣 Comprehensive family planning and fertility benefits via partnership with Carrot, including reimbursement of up to $20,000 in qualified expenses

• 🏡 Up to $2,000 (post-tax) monthly rent subsidy for employees living within 2 miles of Column’s office

• 💳 FSA and HSA account options to enable use of pre-tax money for medical and dependent care expenses

• 📈 401k plan, including self-directed brokerage options

• 🌴 Flexible time-off policy - take the time off that you want and need to relax and recharge

• 👶 100% paid parental leave, including 16 weeks for birth mothers, 12 weeks for primary caregivers, and 8 weeks for secondary caregivers

• 😇 Up to $4,500 in annual reimbursements for backup childcare

• 🍽️ Catered lunches and dinners for SF employees

• 🚆 Commuter benefits

• 🎉 Regular team building events, including annual offsite

The annual OTE range for this position is $275,000 - $375,000 + equity.

The range provided is the role’s On Target Earnings ("OTE") range, which is inclusive of base salary and incentive compensation. New hire offers are made based on a candidate's experience, expertise, geographic location, and internal pay equity relative to peers.

Column is committed to working with the best and brightest people from the broadest talent pool possible. We value bringing together a team with different perspectives, educational backgrounds, and life experiences, and believe a diversity of ideas is what allows us to develop the best solutions. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.

If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation during the application and recruiting process, please reach out to [email protected].

We participate in the E-Verify program in certain locations as required by law. Learn more about the E-Verify program here.